The US Coast Guard will be joining the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines in the 2012 Armed Forces Crossband Test, scheduled for May 12. In addition to the Coast Guard station, five Army stations, three Air Force stations and six Navy/Marine Corps stations will be on the air to celebrate the 62nd anniversary of Armed Forces Day (AFD).

Military-to-amateur crossband operations will take place on the dates and time in UTC on the frequencies listed for each station. Voice contacts will include operations in single sideband voice (SSB). Some stations, depending on propagation and staffing, may not operate the entire period. Participating military stations will transmit on selected military MARS frequencies and listen for Amateur Radio stations in the amateur bands. The military station operator will announce the specific amateur band frequency being monitored. Duration of each voice contact should be limited to 1-2 minutes. The Secretary of Defense message will be transmitted via digital modes, including RTTY, PACTOR, AMTOR, PSK-31, MFSK and MT63 from certain stations.

The following information was not included in the original list of the stations that will be on the air for the test:

Station: NMN (1300 UTC May 12-0030 UTC May 13)
USCG CAMSLANT (Communications Area Master Station Atlantic), Chesapeake, Virginia

QSL card requests should be addressed to Commanding Officer, ATTN: OS3 Cattell, 4720 Douglas A. Munro Rd, Chesapeake, VA 23322-4399.

Click here for the schedules and frequencies of participating military stations, including the stations that will be transmitting the message from the Secretary of Defense. Instructions on how to copy and submit the message are also included.